Overview:Republicans
saw encouraging signs in their success in the June 5 recall
election and Romney's
selection
of
Rep.
Paul
Ryan
put the state in play,
but when the votes were counted the Obama-Biden ticket won with a
plurality of 213,019 votes (7.06 percentage points), carrying 35
counties to 37 for Romney-Ryan. Wisconsin had the
second
highest turnout as a percentage of voting eligilble population,
trailing only Minnesota.General
Election DetailsObama
| RomneyBALLOT
[PDF]

Gov. Scott Walker signed
SB
115
into law on Sept. 30, 2011. The measure set the presidential
primary on the same day as the spring general election.

General Election --
Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Voting Eligible
Population*: 4,113,565.VEP Highest Office Turnout
Rate: 72.5%.
As of Oct. 31, 2008 there were 3,502,196
registered voters. In Wisconsin
one can register at the polling place on Election Day with proof of
residence.

Registered
voters can vote absentee and are not required to provide any
reason.

On Sept. 9, 2008 Kevin
J. Kennedy,
Director and General Counsel of the Government Accountability Board
certified nine candidates for the presidential ballot.

2008
OverviewIn both 2004 and 2000, the
Democratic margin of victory in the presidential race had been less
than one percentage point; indeed in 2004 Wisconsin had the smallest
margin of any state. 2008 was a very different story as the
Obama-Biden ticket won by a
comfortable margin, gaining a plurality of 414,818 votes (13.91
percentage points) and carrying 59 counties to 13 for McCain-Palin. General
Election
DetailsObama/Allies
|
McCain/Allies| Nader

Total
voters:
3,003,083.
No early voting; people
can request an absentee ballot from their municipal clerk without
providing
an explanation. Municipal clerks (there are 1,850) can start
sending out absentee
ballots
to people who have requested them 30 days before the election. Absentee vote: 364,639.

2000
OverviewBoth major campaigns
poured
significant resources into the battleground state of Wisconsin.
Ralph
Nader's appeal in this state gave the Bush forces grounds for optimism,
but on Election Day the Gore-Lieberman ticket eked out a narrow win,
gaining
a plurality of 5,708 votes (0.22 percentage points) over
Bush-Cheney.
Bush carried 46 counties to Gore's 26. By comparison, in 1996,
when
Dole did not actively compete in the state, the Dole-Kemp ticket
carried
just 11 counties, while Clinton-Gore won in 61. Four-term Gov.
Tommy
Thompson was an ardent Bush supporter, and his organization provided a
foundation for Bush's strong showing as the state's electors nearly
went
into the Republican column for the first time since 1984.General
Election Activity | Photos